A Fighting Chance
by Pandawasmyballpen
Summary: The blood rushed through her veins, her heart pounding in excitement, fighting is more than a drug, it is her life. With the amount of trouble the straw hats pirate gets into, it is inevitable, she would become the best. REWRITTEN


Title: A fighting chance

Genre: Action/Adventure/Friendship

Summary: The blood rushed through her veins, her heart pounding in excitement, fighting is more than a drug, it is her life. With the amount of trouble the straw hats pirate gets into, it is inevitable, she would become the best. REWRITTEN

**Warning:**very slow romance build up (I mean it), cursing and violence, rating may rise in the future

**Parings: **Surprise!

**A/N:**

Typical OC female character in One Piece world. Gotta love or hate it. I know stories like these especially with an original female lead usually revolves with the girl starting to like OP canon male, male falls in love with OC yadda yadda yadda. I'm trying to break away from the mold though so I'm warning you guys now.

**Romance will take the back ****seat.** I am going to focus on building my character with a set goal in mind while meshing it with the story line. I'm also practicing my hand in writing action scenes which I hope will only improve later on as the story progresses. As for the romance...We'll get there eventually.

I've rewritten this fic since I didn't like the first one. It was just sad. Hopefully this would turn out better. Please enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter one: A fighter made**

Kazuki groaned.

"We're running out of eggs again? What the heck Nana? Don't tell me you've been playing with them again."

"Hehe. Sorry nii-chan" Nanami grinned unrepentantly at her older brother who was glaring down at her over a partially empty egg tray held in his hands.

"Liar, you're not sorry at all." Kazuki stared down at her for a minute longer before letting out a frustrated sigh. Honestly…

He just can't stay angry at that cute little imp.

"Hrrr…. Whatever. Just get cleaned up for supper baby brat and remove your shoes. You're leaving mud prints on the floor. Oh and tell Shinji it's his turn to make master's tea."

Nanami cheered and quickly stripped off her sandals running towards the bathroom to take a shower while ignoring her brother's irritated tone.

"And don't splash water on the floors this time!"

"Ooooookkkaaaayyy…~"

Kazuki shook his head and turned back to the stove. "Tsk. I hate cooking duty. Always. Always! Something is missing when I need it. Now, where is that jar of salt?"

* * *

13 kids.

3 adults.

One small building.

Nanami sat on her knees in front of the mirror while Miwa, her eldest sister help dry and comb her hair. Shinji, her second eldest brother yawned behind her and directed irritably at the rest of the kids to stop running around naked and get ready for supper _now please?_

She has seven big brothers and five big sisters all with varying ages ranging from 8 years up to 14 years old with Kazuki being the eldest and herself being the youngest of the lot with the age of seven.

13 kids, 7 boys and 6 girls.

All sharing the same room.

Privacy?

Privacy – is a thing of impossibility.

Their small martial arts school is located at the island of Payon of the calm belt.

The 13 hellions (as the townsfolk not so secretly dubbed them) are a constant source of headache for the adults of the village.

And they got only one person to blame.

Genzo. Their father figure.

Their Master, Genzo, all brought them to this haven (and damned the town's people to hell) raising them as if his own. She was 2 years old when she first stepped in the old traditional building. She had been bawling her eyes out that time, after being abandoned and basically living in the streets – she was saved and given a new home. She had lost everything but gained a new father, lots of aunts, uncles and sworn siblings that day and she couldn't be anymore happier.

But enough of that.

"Are you excited for tonight Nanami?" Miwa asked as she combed her little sister's hair.

"Un! I can't wait. I wanna go there now!"

Miwa lets out a small hum. "Well, I'm not surprised. It is your first time to see the lantern festival after all. There. It's done." She puts down the brush and pulled her younger sister up.

"Heehee~ Thanks Miwa-nee!"

They made their way to now noisy dining room where she could see some of her brothers bickering and stealing each other's food and her sisters chatting quietly with scattered giggling here and there. Nanami quickly sat on her usual designated seat on floor besides Kazuki.

She chirped a small thanks when she was handed her food by the young teen.

Supper as usual is a very lively affair with Shinji using one of the kids as a pillow to sleep on, Miwa supplying the younger siblings with ammo for a food fight and Kazuki egging both sides on. Later that evening when everything was cleaned up and the mats put away, they left the school to head down to town leaving a disinterested group of adults behind with a reminder for them to get back home early.

The sheer quantity of people on the streets was staggering. Nanami was carried piggy back style by Kazuki as all of the siblings jumped up to the roofs and watched the parade of lanterns and people in costumes dance.

She sat between her brother's legs where she clapped her hands in excitement. She giggled, she oohed and ahhed at the dances and music while Kazuki laughed and held her close in a loose hug throughout the show.

After the performances they trekked back home with lots of whining and complaints, all wanting to stay.

"But I want to see the fireworks!" Nanami whined.

Kazuki gave her hand a small squeeze as they continued walking back home. "We can't. We have to go back now. You have to wake up early tomorrow. You're leaving the island to go attend your match remember?"

She pouted. Kazuki smiled and ruffled her hair.

Later that night when everyone was asleep, she was shook awake. Nanami rubbed her bleary eyes to see the face of her eldest sibling. "Niichan?"

Kazuki raised a finger in front of his lips motioning her to be quiet. He led her outside where they sat on the wooden decks of the school. Her jaw dropped down in awe when she saw the light filled night sky. She turned and grinned at her brother happily with the fireworks reflecting both in their eyes.

XXX

She threw her elbow downwards to his left rib where she felt the bones bend inward and snap throwing the punch heading her way of course. Her opponent's eyes widened in shock and scrunched up in agony as he registered the pain. She stepped forward to man's left and gave a snap kick to his knee where it gave in as well with little resistance. He buckled down to the ground howling.

She calmly walked towards the man's head and held them between her hands ignoring his screams. Nanami twists his head with a snap and heard a sudden series of cracks silencing the man mid scream.

There was a flash of silence before it was broken by a deafening erupting cheer. Nanami grinned, exhilarated at her victory. She searched the coliseum with her eyes and found the special boxed seats. She bowed deeply like she was taught to by her master at the watching divine ones, the tenryuubito showing her respect and left the arena watching her father figure converse with one of them from the corner of her eyes.

XXX

She coughed and curled up in pain on the floor.

"Idiot! Stand up."

Her side was burning in pain. Her lips were busted and felt numb. There was blood dripping from her nose making the nature of breathing difficult.

She shakily stood up.

"Go back to position." Her knees are trembling in fatigue and felt like water, nevertheless she did what was instructed and raised her arms to a guarding position protecting her head.

Without warning her teacher threw a series of combination of punches and low kicks. She dodged. Left. Right. Duck. Right. She raised her knee to block a strike at her legs and gritted her teeth at the strength of the blow.

"Block!" She raised an arm to block and was surprised when her head snapped to the side at the blow that she thought she would have stopped. There was a brief sting to her cheek where the punch landed and then the right side of her face started to hurt with growing pulsing pain.

"Idiot girl! Have I taught you nothing?" Her teacher snarled and held her arm up irritatingly. He made her go back to her previous stance and adjusted her position. "Your guard is too wide. Pull your arms closer to your face. Now block!"

* * *

Every night they all helped treat each other's hurts. The groans and moans of pain are not unfamiliar to their ears. Nanami lied down on her back with tissues stuck up inside her nose to stem the bleeding. She breathes lightly through her mouth and tries not to wince too much when Kazuki puts cold cream on her throbbing cheek to ease the pain and heal the bruising. His condition is no worse than hers.

"Kazu-nii?" She wheezed tiredly.

Kazuki finished patching her up and gave hare a faint smile. "Just sleep Nana. I'll have someone else fix me up." He lightly stroked away her hair from her face and stood up walking away.

She wanted to call him back but her eyes kept on falling shut. Submitting to the demands of her worn-out body, she fell into deep dreamless slumber.

XXX

"So this is her? She's even smaller up close." A female tenryuubito looked down at her from her nose.

Nanami sat very still on her knees in her finest kimono.

"She grows at an exponential rate divine lady. She is only seven and yet she is turning to be one of our best."

"Hmph. I will be the judge of that. Show me her face." The woman said in with her bored tone.

Master Genzo puts a finger under her chin and lifts up her face. The woman narrowed down her eyes at her in scrutiny. "Bearable." She sniffed.

"Deliver her to me in 3 years. You better make her the best Genzo. I have no use for trash." The woman snapped her fingers. An assistant bowed and pulled down the curtains hiding her from their view effectively.

"Thank you your most gracious lady." Her master bowed deeply. Nanami took this as a queue to copy the gesture.

'What the heck was that about?'

A bemused Nanami followed her master as they left the room and head back to the harbor.

XXX

She was sitting cross-legged on the training grounds outside with her eyes covered shut by a piece of cloth. She tried to sense and avoid the rocks her teacher, Master Som chucking at her while trying to pay attention to his lecture at the same time.

Her failing attempts are not exactly surprising to the both of them.

"Haki is an ability to sense spiritual energies and overpower your opponents. It is intent. It is ambition. It is a power inherent to all human beings that can greatly assist you during battle."

A rock went straight to her forehead. She winced.

"It is not much different to the normal senses however, but few people are aware of it and have the ability to awaken it. Right now, I'm teaching you Kenbunshoku haki or the color of observation. It is the ability to sense the presence of others even when concealed and predict their movements before they make them."

She leaned to the right and hissed in pain when she was hit by a medium sized rock directly at the growing bruise of her arm. The man casually and steadily threw rocks aiming where it hurts.

"You will have hard time mastering Haki though. It is because you have no drive and no true ambition. Understandable since you females are flakey and fickle. Your bodies are small and weak. You will instantly die when you meet a stronger opponent with a true intent to kill."

It was just her luck to land a chauvinistic and sadistic teacher. She could already feel his joy bubbling while making her a living piece of bruises.

But there's no helping it, for him the whole woman race is scum - only good for housework and baby making.

"Until you find what your true goals are, you will never master haki. Tell me, what is your goal?"

The man continued to beam her with rocks until the sun went down ending the whole session with a failure on her part.

Nanami laid down on her futon that night with her skin in a myriad of colors thinking of the earlier lesson.

_Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain._

The arm over her waist shifted making her flinch.

_Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain._

It went back still with Kazuki spooning behind her continued to sleep soundly. She bit her bottom lip.

_Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain._

She remembered the time when she was younger. Alone, begging for food at the streets and shoed away by adults. Children avoided her because of her smell and made fun of her for her dirty appearance.

She curled up to a fetal position and soaked the comfort of his older brother's embrace. She closed her eyes and tries to sleep. 'This is what I want to protect.'

_Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain._

She swallowed in a groan.

XXX

Seasons passed. Nanami is now 9 years old and settled in to calm and quiet persona as grew older. Her mischievous nature has been beaten down as their trainings becoming more intense. The various teachers hired by their master from all over the seas made them focus on their specialized fighting arts.

She was still stuck with the same sadist of a teacher Master Som though.

Great.

Nanami chose to focus the art of 8 limbs and rose up to the ranks becoming the second best of their school. Kazuki, the eldest much to her endless frustrations could still beat her down easily enough. Even when older teen gives her an unfair advantage of letting her use Haki that she had finally managed to access a while back, she is still being constantly defeated with minimal difficulty.

Haki.

She sighed.

…Is still far from being mastered. While she has found her resolve which is good, she still only has a vague idea on what she wants and no direction of what she wants to be. It makes her slightly ashamed at her slow progress compared to her siblings.

Just the thought of is slowly driving her insane. Good thing they're still given time to play and relax or she will surely lose it at this constant brutal pace.

They spent their summer days filled of playing tag at the fields, catching dragonflies, eating cold watermelons and watching the fireflies during nighttime. They let fly their kites; played with the scattered leaves and played hide and seek in the mountains during autumn. At winter they built snowmen, made snow angels and battled each other at snowball fights. During spring, they had their picnics while watching the falling flowers of the numerous cherry blossom trees planted near their school. It was all fun! Just thinking about it makes her smile.

But back to the story.

Today is July 3rd, a special day. Kazuki will be celebrating his sixteenth birthday today. It is also her favorite day since it is Friday; the day in the week when they are scheduled to spar.

She watched cautiously at her older brother standing before her at the other side of the dojo noting his fighting stance. His left leg forward and his arms raised to a typical forward stance.

Nanami tuned in her senses, hyperaware to his movements with the use of her pitiful Kenbunshoku haki. She clenched her cloth bind fists and charged. As soon as she was at Kazuki's range she dropped down to a crouch, ducking from the roundhouse kick and rolled to her left evading the following spinning axe kick. Still in her crouching position she jumped and delivered a high right knee strike aimed to his abdomen which he easily avoided by stepping back.

With her knee still bent and still in midair, she shifted her knee position to a 45 degree angle and threw in a roundhouse kick, the ball of her foot aimed to the side of his jaw. Kazuki backed another step, dodged the kick by tilting his head back and captured her foot. Using her momentum, he turned around and tossed her in the air.

Nanami flipped and righted herself in midair landing lightly on her feet. She narrowed her eyes at her brother when he merely looks back lazily at her still in his forward stance. She snarled when he held out a hand and made a come on gesture mocking her.

Throwing caution in the wind, she ran and made a flying side kick which he easily avoided by a side step. Now with him on her back, Nanami crouched and did a spinning leg sweep which he evaded by raising his leg.

"Gotcha." Nanami grinned.

With her foot now forward and him now in close range, she twisted and rose up with right uppercut followed by left hook, a straight and a barrage of series of punches and jabs. The close quarter range made it very difficult for the older boy to evade the quick series of strikes and made do instead with blocking.

Kazuki chanced a liver blow that she blocked by using her elbow, which he pretty much expected and threw a straight punch her to her nose that she dodged by making a side step. She suddenly went down. "Too predictable Nanami." He stepped back from the rising uppercut that he knew was coming and threw a powerful roundhouse kick to her unprotected side making her fly away with its strength.

"Heh. Give up yet?" Kazuki smirked as he watched her roll on the floor. "You're still a thousand years too early to even land a hit on me baby brat."

"Be quiet." Nanami coughed as she slowly stood up holding her side. "Or I'll knee you in the groin and make that your birthday present."

"That's mean…You used to be so sweet to me."

"Hmph!"

Nanami quelled her rising irritation. She knew she is pretty much screwed with the way her brother effortlessly blocks and counters her attacks. Unless she does something totally new and unexpected, there's no hope in hitting him at all. She assessed his fighting stance again. Since she is smaller, his stance is wider and lower compared to the usual stances he uses against their other siblings. She'll just have to use that to her advantage somehow.

'I'll just have to use that. Hopefully, this won't end as bad as I think it would.' Nanami thought as she circled around her opponent slowly looking for a week point. Unsurprisingly there was none.

She breathed. 'No choice then.' She settled down to a stance and smirked. "Here I come." She pumped up her spirit and intent down to her legs.

"Huu. Cheeky."

Kazuki watched amused at his little sister as she lowers her stance and dashed forward. She weaved through his halfhearted attacks and then she suddenly disappeared. His eyes flew open in surprise with the sudden burst of speed. 'What-'

With his low stance, Nanami used his knee as a stepping stool as she pulled down his shoulders and delivered two high knee strikes at his abdomen followed by an uppercut to the jaw making him rise up to the air. She flipped and did a powerful axe kick and landing a stomp to his chest as he slammed down to his back at the floor. She quickly jumped off his body in case of retaliation.

Nanami then promptly proceeded to crumple down on the floor.

_Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!_

She lets out a small whine curled up to a ball of misery and suffering. The lower half of her body felt like being continually stabbed by thousand of needles.

'Never. Never again will I try that again!'

Hah. That's what she gets for spying and trying to copy Miwa during her Haki practice.

_Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!_

One second. Two seconds. Three seconds.

_Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!_

And then Kazuki groaned and cracked open his eyes. "Okay. I admit. That… was a very good move."

She lets out a sound akin to a dying animal.

Kazuki grunted as he rolled to his side looking down on her with his head held at his hand. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing." She whimpered. "Just me dying a slow agonizing death."

He lets out a small amused hum and rolled over her earning a small oof from her with his weight. "I'm surprised. I can't believe you finally hit me. My cute baby brat is growing up." He pulled her tight to hug and faked some tears. "I'm so proud! I can finally die happy now."

"Ugh! Let me go! You're heavy!"

"Never!" Kazuki sang happily and cuddled her more.

"Let go! You're sweaty and stinky! Ahh!" Nanami gasped, her air being cut off. She futilely tries to push him away only for him to get heavier somehow.

"Who you calling stinky huh?" Kazuki lets out a grin full of mischief. She suddenly feared for her life. "Punishment~!" Kazuki sang and she suddenly found her head stuck under his sweaty armpit. "Smell the smell of pure manliness. Hahahaha!"

"Ack! Noooooo~! Let go! LET GO! Dying! Dying! Dying! HEEEELLLPPP!"

"Muwahahahahaha!"

* * *

After a good long shower and Kazuki now sporting a bite mark on his arm, Nanami and the rest of the siblings made their way to town with the permission of their elders.

"So what do you want to do on your birthday Zuki?" Miwa asked absentmindedly as her eyes swept through the displays at the windows they passed by. Kazuki shrugged. "Idunno and stop calling me that. It makes me sound like a girl." Miwa only smirked in reply.

"How about we all just eat in a restaurant and go home. I wanna go to sleep." Shinji yawned and herded the younger siblings to prevent them from going off on their own.

"Shinji always want to sleep." Gorou, one of the younger boys piped in.

"Yeah! He's always hiding away from his chores." Shichiro added.

"He's a lazy." Came the unanimous reply from everyone else.

"Meh. Whatever." Shinji shrugged and idly scratched the itch on the back of his neck.

"Hey. What's that?" Momoe, the second youngest sister pointed towards a new building. "I haven't seen that one before."

Miwa perked up in interest. "Huh. It's a photography studio. What do you think Zuki? _(Stop calling me that!)_ Want to get our picture taken?"

Kazuki scowled. "That's no fun" Miwa rolled her eyes and starts pulling the older teen towards the building. "We don't even have one family photo in the whole house. Think of it as a memento. We're leaving to Sambaody tomorrow. Don't you want one too Nanami-chan?"

Nanami cocked her head in thought. "I guess."

Hearing that, Kazuki lets out a defeated sigh."Fiiiiineeee.~ Let's go. You heard the witch. We'll get our picture taken."

"Aww. You wound me right here Zuki. _(I told you to stop calling me that!)"_ Miwa dramatically puts a hand over her heart. "But so quick to agree though. Your sister complex is really cute."

"More like disturbing." Shinji yawned.

"Shuuuttaaapp."

They all shuffled towards the studio and had their family picture taken as Miwa demanded. When they leave the establishment to head to a restaurant, Kazuki hanged back and pulled Nanami behind with him.

"Oi jiisan" He called the photographer. "Could you take quick a picture of me and my cute baby sis here?"

Nanami suddenly feeling awkward for some strange reason started to pull her arm away. "What are doing Kazu-nii? They're leaving us behind."

"What's wrong baby brat? Feeling shy?" Kazuki teased.

Nanami flushed lightly. "Be quiet."

Kazuki lets out a small amused 'Heh' before turning serious. "Listen here Nana. Master is taking the rest of us to Sambaody tomorrow and leaving you behind. I don't know when we'll meet again so I want to have our picture taken together." He then let's out a long despairing sob. "Besides, stuck with Miwa's bad attitude, Shinji being lazy and falling asleep all the time and with everyone else's annoying pestering, I need all the comfort I can get! Seeing my cute tsundere baby sister's face every morning is the only thing that makes me happy. I can't believe I won't be able to sleep with you anymore! Huhuhu…"

"S..Stop it you creepo! You're embarrassing!" Mortified, Nanami flushed to a deeper shade of red. She fumed when he only continued to cry. "Fine, let's just do this so that we can go already."

Kazuki's emotional state made a complete 180 as he smiled brightly. "Alright!"

Nanami suddenly felt very cheated.

"Are you kids ready?" The photographer asked.

"Ah wait." Kazuki sat down on of the chairs and swung her to his lap. She sighed in resignation and lets out small smile.

"Ok now we're ready."

"Okay. In the count of three, One. Two. Three."

_Kachack!_

_XXX_

Nanami stood by the pier watching her brothers and sisters go on board the ship while some of her aunts and uncles carried in their supplies for the travel. "I still don't understand though why Master is taking you guys away." She said dully. She bit her bottom lip. It only just struck her that she will be left behind.

Kazuki, standing beside her shrugged. "Remember the matches we attend to? Master said that he found us sponsors and they are staying at Sambaody. You already have one too right? The female tenryuubito that you told me about. And as for the others-"

Shinji shuffled past them yawning.

"Like hopeless cases like Shinji here," Kazuki jerked a thumb to his direction. "Master will be finding them future sponsors there too."

Shinji lazily flipped him a finger in answer and went up the ramp.

"Still…" Nanami felt her heart squeeze and she bowed down her head trying to hide her face.

Kazuki placed a comforting hand to her head, "We'll see each other soon. Maybe one of our future matches, so you have to get stronger okay? You also have to look after our new siblings since you are the eldest now. They can be annoying at times but it will be fun. It'll be just like we're here."

"No it won't!" Nanami clenched her hands to a fist at her sides. "It won't be the same. They'll never replace you guys." She finished with a soft tone.

Kazuki ruffled her hair. "I know that." He breathed out quietly. He smiled, "Don't tell me you're going to cry now baby brat." He teased.

"Shut up." Nanami bit her lip, wiped away her stray tears and reigned in her emotions. "I just got something in my eye that's all."

Kazuki lets out a small laugh and shouldered his bag. "Well I gotta go now or they'll leave me behind." He moved past her and turned around giving her a soft smile. "Be strong Nanami."

He stood in front of her with the sun shining at his back. The wind played with the strands of his short brown hair and his green eyes are watching her so earnestly. Nanami tried to imprint this image to her brain.

He shook his head as if to dismiss some thought and gave a small wave. He turned around to leave.

"Wait!"

Kazuki looked back to see his sister riffling through her pockets. She took his hand and placed something on his palm. Her cheeks flushed slightly. She could not look at his face. Kazuki peered down at the objects on his palm curiously. It was a blue stud earring.

"It's my only pair okay. I'm keeping the other one with me." She emphasized this by inserting its partner to her earlobe.

"So you have to take care of it and bring it back to me. I'll never forgive you if you lose it." She continued.

Trembling, he closed his hand and bowed down his head suddenly overwhelmed with the onslaught of mixed emotions.

"Kazu-nii?" Nanami asked hesitantly slightly embarrassed.

'Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. I knew I shouldn't have done that. But…'

She was suddenly glomped by the teen and caged in to a tight hug.

"WAAAAAHHHH! I DON'T WANNA GO!" Kazuki cried, his tears streaming down his cheeks like rivers. Miwa, who just came around the pier, saw this.

"Ah. It's the sister complex. So cute! But we really have to go now Zuki"

"No!" Kazuki hugged his hostage tighter and stuck out his tongue childishly.

"Wow... That's...sad. C'mon. Let's go. We're the last ones."

"I don't care! I changed my mind. I'm not going"

Miwa hits him on the head and pried him their sister with difficulty. She pulled him towards the ship.

"Bye Nana-chan! Take care."

"Nooo! Let me gooooo~! I'm not leaving. Nana! NANA!" He tried to wiggle out of the hold and reached out his hand desperately. Nanami deadpanned and waved him a goodbye.

The ramp was put away a second later, the anchor was raised and the sails were released. The ship was good to go. The wind picked up and they started to leave the port.

'You will pay for this Miwa.' Kazuki swore to himself still crying miserably as he joined the rest of his siblings standing by the rails shouting their goodbyes to their youngest sister. Her form was getting smaller by the distance. She looks so alone out there. The image of her being left behind - it added to the unspoken irrational fear growing inside him when he first heard of the news of their leaving.

"KAZU-NII!"

He started at her shout.

"WHEN WE MEET, I'LL BE STRONGER SO YOU'LL HAVE TO FIGHT ME SERIOUSLY NEXT TIME. I'LL DEFEAT YOU SO DON'T EVER LOSE! I PROMISE! I'LL BECOME THE BEST FIGHTER IN THE WORLD!" Her face grim, she raised an arm and thrusts a fist to the air.

Worries now abated, Kazuki grinned and answered her with the same gesture. 'The best fighter in the world huh? I'll look forward to that day Nanami.'

XXX

Another year has passed. Nanami is now 10 years old. Her skill in Kenbunshoku haki had skyrocketed once she had a decided path for herself. Her training had become even more challenging because while she can now slightly predict her opponent's attack, it would have been rendered useless if she could not even move fast enough to avoid or counter the hit.

She wondered how her older siblings are. 'A whole year without even a word or a single letter. They'll make me grow old in worry.'

She missed them. She missed them a lot.

While she may not express it well, she loves her new younger brothers and sisters just the same but it didn't ease the empty feeling she has in her chest. Only Master Genzo and their old caretaker Chiyo-bāsan could make her forget the feeling for a moment but most of the time her father figure is gone and her old aunt is too busy taking care of the younger ones.

"Mmm…mm…mango cheese cake….rrggh…nnmm."

Nanami smiled lightly to herself as she fixed her younger brother's blanket and covered him properly. 'Kenta is really obsessed with mangoes. Thinking of them even when sleeping. Hehe.' She thought fondly of the chubby boy as she picked up her necessities and heads to the bathroom. Being the eldest now, responsibility of taking care of her new siblings rests on her shoulders. These duties as an older sister, she took to heart.

She slowly unwraps the ragged and worn cloth bindings on her hands and feet, released her hair from its tight braid and threw in her shorts and shirt to the laundry basket. She jumps into the wooden tub filled with warm water and submerged herself for a few seconds. She resurfaced with a gasp and laid her back to the edge of the tub sighing.

'I'm finally leaving tomorrow.' She thought and moaned lightly as the ache of her body dulled. Her training from the last few days simply put almost killed her. Master Som upped their sessions by honing her senses and increased her experience, mainly by beating her black and blue and teaching her the basics of Busoshoku haki she had yet to grasp. He had also handed her a scroll of a very detailed guide of her training regime.

The good thing about practicing the 8 limbed fighting arts was that as long as she has mastered the basic form and strikes, it is open to all modifications, new combinations and techniques. She just needs to continue strengthening her body, mind and spirit; train and keep on fighting until everything becomes an instinct.

She raised and turned her hands.

They are full of calluses. The bones of her fingers are bigger and thicker compared to other girls. It was a result from punching a tree endlessly until her bones develop small cracks that got filled up when it healed becoming denser and stronger. The same can also be said to the bones of her arms, elbows, shins and feet.

'The fruit of my labors.' She thought dryly and finished her bathing rituals.

She frowned at her reflection in the mirror. Nanami is of average height with pale blond hair that reaches just below her shoulders and dark blue eyes. Her tan skin coloring is a result from spending her time training outdoors. The tan line on her arms and feet she has developed was also not surprising since she always had them covered with her bindings. She was also losing a lot of her baby fat and developing slightly more visible muscles throughout her body. She scowled at that observation. Already she looks very different compared to the delicate pretty features of the village girls. She finished drying her hair and clothed herself in a plain white yukata.

She could already see her future.

"You, will turn into a man." She muttered to herself and slides the door close as she left the bathroom. She took a more scenic rout on her way back. She passed by the wooden decks outside, the training fields, the dojo, the dining room, the kitchen and finally went in their shared room. At her mind's eye flashed numerous memories associated in each room. She laid down on her futon, calmly closed her eyes and went to sleep.

On to the next day, her hair was combed straight to perfection and a gold plated clip was placed to the side of her head. She was garbed in an expensive red and gold fighting kimono that ended just above her knees, a pair of high white tabi socks and geta on her feet that she absolutely despise. She would rather just have her hair chopped off, walk barefoot and wear plain shorts and sleeveless shirts she's comfortable fighting in. She stood by the end of the ship waving her goodbyes to her siblings who went with her to see her off and turned her back on the island she won't be seeing again for a long time.

* * *

**Chapter 2: A fighter's decision**

**A/N: **

**Next chapter: Nanami will now meet the canon characters of One Piece.**

Thank you and please review! :)


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